Hammock

ABSTRACT

A hammock assembly which provides a lightweight and low cost support for a hammock which requires a medium or a higher tension than currently used. This allows the stand to carry a very low profile with upward arm elevation of only around 30 degrees. In a preferred use the support is easily folded and installed without tools, tensioning of the hammock can be provided by a single action overcenter device; also some pre-tensioning anti-flip ropes can provide extra safety.
         A hammock bed provides increased lifting at its mid length through a combination of X-shaped fabric formations with transverse strengthening band including dismantling of the straight and curved spreader bars.   A second hammock support stand assembly which provides a hammock seat combination that allows indoor use, including a very strong asymmetric support formed as a horizontal X shape.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/455,203 filed Oct. 16, 2010.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to hammock stand, hammock reinforced structure and compact hammock stand of a new type where the initial hammock tension of 20 to 100 lbs. eliminated the sagging of current hammock which requires up to 36 inches and more free space at the middle of the hammock in relation to the straight line made by the hammock anchors; this 36 inches is made of 12 to 18 inches of natural sagging by the loose tension and weight of the hammock fabric or ropes, the other 18 to 24 inches of height is lost by the weight of the hammock user.

Hammocks and hammock stand assemblies have been used mostly during the last 200 years with most improvements into the foldable and collapsible stands during the last 50 years; because the current hammock requires attachment points at between four and five feet from the ground for a span of 13 to 15 feet between anchors, the elevation angle of straight upward support arms has been kept at around 130 to 140 degrees in relation to the horizontal support which also means an under arm angle of 50 to 40 degrees. Any lower angle would not give enough anchor height to prevent the user's back from touching the middle hammock stand bottom structure when lying down in it.

Prior art is showing several patents of structure which is foldable or collapsible, made of wood, steel or aluminum; a variety of systems of opening and closing is included in the following U.S. Patents: from A. B. Richardson U.S. Pat. No. 180,729, of F. W. Hibbs U.S. Pat. No. 1,032,211, of W. W. Cushman U.S. Pat. No. 1,032,211, of Lee Bayless U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,652, of George C. Turner U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,546, of Richard L. Williams U.S. Pat. No. 5392,476, of Lee Bayless U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,422, of Chuen-Jong Tseng U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,383 B1, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,687 B1, of Edward Zheng Pub. No. US2006/0150325 A1, of Adam Lam Pub. No. US2007/0017026 A1, of Hubert Perry Weir Pub. No. US2008/0078024 A1 each show various improvements to hammock stands, supports or assemblies. Joseph Rene Lemmens US Pub. No. US2008/0010849 A1 is showing prior art as hammock bedding structures related to this application.

Most hammock stands today, for mere aesthetics, are built of wood, but are quite heavy, up to 90+ lbs., not readily foldable into a compact design and surely not easy to carry for most users; metal ones are lighter, but not as sturdy and they lack the beautiful aspect of wood structures which enhance the beauty of a natural environment.

The cost of fabrication of curved wood structures with around five layers of glued boards of good quality or exotic wood is quite costly and therefore not “amenable” to low cost mass marketing production.

Many other drawbacks of current supports is their excessive height of climbing which causes the hammock to be unstable; most metal stands lack the strength to resist the pull of a higher tension single or double hammock when up to 1,000 lbs. of pull which is carried by each anchor attachment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hammock stand made from beam material which includes a double horizontal support member operatively fastened to a support leg at each end and a pair of upward arms that can be made of a single or double beam. Specific fastening location and quick motion operation permit easy folding and unfolding. Also, a single wheel support accessory allowed to move the hammock stand by lifting the other end and carrying less than 40 percent of the total weight.

The complete assembly is a low profile system since the X hammock holding tension is strong enough to prevent extreme sagging of the hammock fabrics; for that reason a quick action tensioning overcenter device is included in this invention; since the upward arms need only to be around 36 inches off the ground which allows a beautiful look of the entire assembly since the upward arms elevation in relation of the ground is only around 30 degrees. An extra feature can include pre-tensioned stability ropes which prevent flipping over, which is valuable for persons who need to be more safe but enjoy the relaxation of lying down on a hammock.

The present invention also shows a novel way to fabricate the hammock itself where two bands of fabric are included diagonally into the rectangular bed sheets; these bands of fabric form a longitudinal X shape but only on the upper body, two thirds the length of the hammock bed, by then a transversal wide band of fabric is supporting the upper weight of the user's legs. All three of these bands of fabric are fastened following current methods of being sewn together including going around edge ropes or spreader bars attachments.

A second embodiment of the medium to high tension hammock stand is providing compactness and sturdiness to allow users year-round sleep bed support or nap enjoyment. A series of three boards are fastened together with a larger one in the center and two narrow ones on the outsides; this hammock stand has only around 50 percent of the clearance of the full size stand, but enough to permit the X hammock to carry an average person's weight with the same comfort as the full size version. This compact stand transforms itself into a multi-person bench when a subassembly is added and fastened to the stand.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

It is a foremost object of this invention to provide a hammock stand, assembly and a compact support where the new structure geometry and designs take full advantage of the characteristics describe in the U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0010849 A1 by Joseph Rene Lemmens where the hammock bed is loaded with a pre-tension of around 20 to 100 lbs. for a single hammock.

A second object of this invention is to provide an ingress height of only 30 inches or less which provides easy seating before lying down with great stability and ease, the diagonal stability of the X comfort hammock is such that in a seating position with legs outside the hammock a person can swing himself as if being suspended in a swing.

A third object of this invention is to provide a hammock stand of low cost, easily foldable and easy to carry since its total weight is less than 50% of a current curved, wooden stand.

A fourth object of this invention us to provide a hammock assembly which includes an easy tensioning system and an improved bedding as an alternative to the X comfort hammock.

A fifth object of this invention is to provide a compact hammock stand with possible dual purpose: hammock to lie down or multi-person seating bench for use in a close quarter situation.

Several other objects and advantages of the present invention are the low angle elevation of the upward arms which is only around 30 degrees since this medium-to-high tension with the X combination prevents the user from sagging down into the horizontal structure; the low upward elevation of the support arms gives a great aesthetic look to the stand alone, and even more beautiful with a hammock of good matching colors. More impacts of the hammock assembly could be seen for people who sleep without a bed. Another advantage is to be able to disassemble the fabrics of the spreader bars to be able to wash it conveniently and many other advantages shown by the drawings and descriptions.

High Tension Hammock Assembly

RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention's objects, features and advantages will be better understood in consideration of the detailed description of several embodiments illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a high tension hammock assembly under tension.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 including a mobility wheel.

FIG. 3 is a left end view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a right end view of FIG. 2

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the hammock stand of FIG. 1 being folded.

FIG. 6 is aside view of FIG. 5 after the support legs have been aligned.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the stand completely folded.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view of FIG. 8 locking system.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the invention overcenter clamp in a released position.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the overcenter clamp in a closed position.

FIG. 12 is a top view of FIG. 8.9

FIG. 13A is a top view of an alternative embodiment before assembly.

FIG. 13B is a side view of FIG. 13A shown in an assembled condition.

FIG. 14 is a top view of a second alternative hammock.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a compact high tension hammock stand.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a compact hammock stand.

FIG. 17 is a bottom view of a fifth embodiment of the compact hammock stand.

FIG. 18 is a side view of a seating accessory system.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   10 horizontal member     -   12 horizontal member     -   14 support leg     -   16 support leg     -   18 single bolt     -   19 single bolt     -   20 left upward arm     -   21 tangent surface     -   22 single bolt, washers and nut     -   23 right upward arm     -   24 right upward arm     -   26 single bolt, washers and nut     -   27 tangent surface     -   28 chain and ring     -   29 hook     -   30 rectangular fabric     -   32 straight spreader arm     -   34 right eye hook     -   35 clip     -   36 series of ropes     -   38 stability ropes     -   40 eye bolt     -   42 a curved or straight bar     -   44 left and right eye bolt     -   46 series of ropes     -   47 ring     -   48 hook and chain assembly     -   50 bolt     -   52 overcenter member     -   54 series of bolts     -   56 aperture     -   58 mobility wheel     -   60 double eye plates     -   62 lever     -   64 lever     -   66 metal plate     -   68 spacer block     -   70 wood screw     -   72 serrated head bolt     -   74 eye bolt and nut     -   76 closing motion     -   102 spreader bar     -   104 spreader bar     -   106 wide band of material     -   108 wide band of material     -   110 ring     -   112 series of ropes     -   114 series of ropes     -   116 series of ropes     -   118 ring     -   120 rectangular fabric     -   122 fabric opening     -   124 fabric opening     -   126 wide hem end     -   128 sew line     -   128 sew line     -   132 spreader bar     -   140 top rectangular fabric     -   142 diagonal band of fabric     -   143 side hem line     -   144 diagonal band of fabric     -   145 rope     -   146 fabric band     -   147 rope     -   148 hem line     -   151 sew line     -   164 eye bolt     -   174 vertical eye bolt     -   200 wide board     -   201 series of screws     -   202-204 small board     -   206 reaction member     -   08 fastening plates     -   210 support member     -   212 support leg     -   13 group of screws     -   214 support member     -   216 support leg     -   218-222 floor supports     -   224 nut tube     -   225 straps or ropes     -   226 double threaded rods     -   227 straps or ropes     -   228 double threaded rods     -   230 nut tube     -   250 seat support     -   252 hinge board     -   256 hinge     -   258-260-262 transverse beams     -   264 short hinge beam     -   266 hinge     -   268 hook-down system     -   270 circular hole

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The description of the hammock assembly is related to the need of high tension pull for certain fabrics or rope hammocks in order to provide a stable, nearly horizontal support for the occupant. FIG. 1 through 7 illustrate the first embodiment of the present invention with the exception of FIG. 2 which illustrates a support wheel not shown on the other drawings. Therefore any component # for FIG. 1 through 7 included are identical.

FIG. 1 perspective view illustrates the combination of both the hammock and the stand together; the hammock is represented by a rectangular piece of fabric 30 which is fastened by a straight spreader bar 32 which is linked to the stand by a hook 29 via a chain and ring 28, a series of ropes 36 which are tied to a left and a right eye hook 34; at the other end the fabric is fastened to a curved spreader bar 42 that includes a left and right eye bolt 44 which carry the load to a series of ropes 46 and a ring 47 which receives its pull by a hook and chain assembly 48 tied to a bolt 50 part of an overcenter member 52 which is fastened to the hammock stand by a series of bolts 54, the overcenter member 52 is located in an aperture 56.

The stand itself is illustrated by a front and a rear horizontal member 10 and 12 which constitutes the linking to both a right and a left support leg 14 and 16 and a left upward arm 20 and right upward arm 23, 24 which is fastened to itself with a bolt or a screw 27. These components are all made of readily available construction wood, are low cost and very strong. The horizontal members are fastened to the support legs by a single bolt at each end for each member 18, 19 on the right side and the same 18, 19, on the left. The upward arms are fastened by a single bolt, washers and nut 22 for the left and 26 for the right arm; the tightening of these bolts is sufficient to hold up the arms even when no hammock is suspended, these upward arms are prevented from moving under the pull of the hammock because the bottom hidden end of these arms are pressing against the support leg at a tangent surface 21 on the left and 27 on the right as seen on FIG. 2. A final component of this first embodiment is the anti-flip stability system where an eye bolt 40 permits a stability rope for each side 38 to be anchored to the eye bolts 32 and 34 via a sturdy clip 35 at the upper end of each stability rope.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are side and end views of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 illustrates where the bottom of the upward arms are prevented from going down because they are held by the support legs. This side view, FIG. 3, shows how the stability ropes 38 are bringing down the straight spreader bar 32 by around 20% of its height to the ground when the hammock is under tension without occupant.

FIGS. 2 and 3 both illustrate how a mobility wheel 58 is fastened to the horizontal members 10 and 12 by a double eye plates 60; the side view is also showing a cut-off line 57 of the aperture 56, also visible is the inside location of the chain 48 inside the overcenter member 52.

FIG. 5 illustrates a bottom view of the first embodiment without the hammock as when ready to fold down the assembly. With both bolts 18 out the support legs are ready to be rotated as shown by the arrow 11. FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the first embodiment where the arms 20 and 24 are free from their abutments on the support legs and can be rotated as shown by the arrows 25. FIG. 7 illustrates the stand assembly completely folded.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention similar to the first embodiment with the exception of: a lever 64 replaces the right bolt 18 of FIG. 1 in order to clamp and unclamp the support legs 14 without need for any tool. A carriage bolt 72 goes through a metal plate 66 first, then through a spacer block 68 and the horizontal member 10 with its end thread going through the lever 64 which is threaded through its center as seen on FIG. 9. A wood screw 70 also goes through the plate 66, the spacer 68 and partially into member 10; this screw prevents the plate 66 from swinging away from its alignment with member 10. Similarly a lever 62 is performing the same function at the other end of the horizontal member 10, therefore both support legs 14 and 16 can be rotated in a similar manner as FIG. 6 for the first embodiment. Head bolt 72 should be serrated to prevent its rotation. A hammock 31 illustrates a curved or straight spreader bar 43 which includes a couple of eye bolts 45 holding a series of ropes 46 independently fastened to the ring 47 and to the hook and chain 48 and the overcenter tension member 52.

The spreader bar 32 has an extra eye bolt 31 near each end where the stability ropes 38 are now clipped on: this is lowering the spreader bar 32 by an extra few inches down and is taking away the free swing action that was previously available in FIG. 7 embodiment is allowing a no swing setup on demand, it should be noted that the first embodiment is able to fine tune the swing action with the control of the chain 28. This second embodiment dies control the tension via a ring hock 49 into a chain 51. A series of sling members 72 are fastened to a eye bolt and nut 74 onto the arm 25 and at their upper end with clips to the eye bolts 45. Holding the hammock at the other end is a single ring 27 anchored onto the hook 28 and carrying the tension of series of rope 37.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate how the overcenter clamp goes from release position in FIG. 10A with the lever 52 extending outside the upward arm 24; it shows the chain 48 ties to the bolt 50; the opening 56 is represented by an inside cut-off line 74, an arc 76 represents the motion for closing the clamp.

FIG. 11 illustrates the lever 52 in a closed overcenter position with an arc 78 representing the motion of the pin 50.

FIG. 12 illustrates a third embodiment of the hammock 30 shown in FIG. 1. This embodiment has a rectangular top material reinforced with a diagonally located pair of wide bands of materials 106 and 108; both materials and fabric are fastened to a spreader bar 102 at one end, the tensioning is provided by a eye bolt 116 and 118 and a series of ropes 112 and 114 tie to a ring 110. At the other end both layers of materials are fastened to a spreader bar 104 which includes a pair of eye bolts 114, a series of ropes 116 are linked to the eye bolts at one end and to a ring 118 at the other end.

It should be noted that the diagonal bands of fabrics are around 2 percent shorter than the top fabric for the reason that it acts as a flexible lifting at the center of the hammock because of the curve spreader as shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate how the fabrics of the diagonal bands and top rectangular fabric have a wide hem 175 going around a spreader bar 132. The hammock shows a rectangular fabric 120; hidden are the diagonal bands of FIGS. 12, 106 and 108 with a wide hem that ends at line 126, but provides a certain looseness in the center at line 127 on each end; the fabrics are fastened at a sew line 130 and another sew line 128. The fabric ends provide an opening at each side and each end 122 and 124. The spreader bar 132 is anchored horizontally with an eye bolt 164, or can be tensioned through a vertical eye bolt such as 174.

FIG. 14 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the hammock 30 shown in FIG. 1; this embodiment includes a top rectangular fabric 140; at the left end of the hammock a first diagonal band of fabric 142 reaches the other end at the side hem line 143 before folding around rope 145 and reaching the hammock right end. Similarly a second diagonal band of fabric 144 reaches the other end at the other hem line 148 before folding around rope 147 and folded back on itself before reaching the other end. A second wide band of fabric 146 is spread across the hammock at around ⅔ of the length of the hammock, this fabric goes around the rope 147 and is sewn with the edge hem 148 on one side, same thing on the other side where the fabric band 146 goes around rope 145 and is sewn with the hem 143 at sew line 151.

FIG. 15 illustrates a fifth embodiment of the high tension hammock assembly. This compact hammock stand includes a wide board 200 and a small board 202 on one side and 204 on the other side; all three boards are fastened by a reaction member 206 and a fastening plate 208 in each small board and two fastening plates in the wide board. Fastened to the board 200 is a support member 210 in which a series of eye bolts 230 are fastened at one end where at the other end a similar support 214 is fastened to the two boards 202 and 204 for one part and is providing anchoring points, to a series of eye bolts 232 is a second part. The board 200 is fastened to a support leg 212 with a series of floor supports 222; similarly the boards 202 and 204 are fastened to a support leg 216 and a series of floor supports 218.

The hammock requires tension which is provided by a series of straps or ropes 225 and 227 which are fastened to the support member 214, then goes around the support leg 212 before following the direction of board 200 to loop around reaction member 206, then they follow the direction of boards 202 and 204 down to support leg 216, loop around it nd goes to support member 210 where it is fastened. It should be noted that the straps or ropes are being tensioned at a ratchet or overcenter system 227 near reaching the support member 210.

At its upper end the upper board is fastened to a support beam 210 which is locked in place by a series of fasteners 236; at the upper end, the small boards are fastened to a support beam 214 with a series of fasteners 238. Also shown in FIG. 15, the two support beams each hold a couple of eye bolts 232 and 234 into which the spreader bar is inserted during the hammock installation. When not in use, a sling 201 can hold the stand open when the hammock is not installed.

FIG. 16 illustrates the sixth stand embodiment of the invention which is similar to the fifth with the exception of the flexible tensioning system being replaced by a threaded rod and a nut-tube tensioning 232 and 230 linking the support leg 216 and support beam 210 on one end of the stand; at the other end a double threaded rods 226 and 228 are fastened to a double nut-tube 224 linking the support beam 214 and the support leg 212. All other members of this embodiment are similar to the fifth stand embodiment. It should be noted that the nut-tube bottom is a freely rotating concentric tube around the support leg and at the support beam the transfer of force is similar to an automotive scissor jack where the thread end carries a strong washer before going through a section of the support beam with a second strong washer on the other side by a locking nut and terminating with a square end or other similar shape in order to permit rotation force to be applied with a hand tool to apply tension to the hammock.

FIG. 17 shows a bottom view of the fifth embodiment and shows the wide board that is fastened to the support legs 212 by a group of screws 213 while the small boards are fastened by a series of screws 201.

Both FIG. 15 and FIG. 17 embodiments are supported at each end of their support leg by a foot attachment 218 which prevents the support from touching the ground or floor, and gives better stability to the stand.

FIG. 18 illustrates a seventh embodiment related to the high tension compact hammock assembly. The accessory shows a hammock seat support for when the hammock is used as a seating sofa; this is a front view of the seat support in which 250 is a large around one half the length of hammock embodiment five or six, fastened to the board is a triplet of transverse beams shown as 258, 260 and 262; a hinged board 252 is fastened to the beam 260 by a hinge 256, at the bottom part of the hinged board is a circular hole 270 which provides support by its engagement into the reaction member 206; similarly, not seen at the back of beam 260 is a second hinged member which has a similar circular hole which is open toward its bottom in order to be able to engage it with a downward motion. Also supporting the seat support is a short hinged beam 264 that is fastened by a hinge 266; the other side could be fastened similarly or both ides could be anchored with any type of hook-down system such as 268 and 270 which then provides a pulling force instead of pressure as for a beam; it should be noted that the number of support beams could be two instead of three without any other change in the construction except that the center beam 260 would be located under the board 250 in order to provide obstruction free space for the person being seated in the center of the hammock compact stand. 

I claim:
 1. A hammock stand comprising: a) a pair of horizontal support members having a first a second ends; b) a pair of support legs operatively connected to the horizontal support members; c) a pair of upward arms fastened to each end of the horizontal support member by some attachment means; d) a pair of attachment means at the upper end of the support arm whereby a hammock can be hung.
 2. The hammock of claim 1 wherein the hammock is hung or released by a clamp lever of similar quick release device.
 3. The hammock stand of claim 2 wherein the support legs are fastened by bolts with nuts or clamp levers.
 4. The hammock stand of claim 3 wherein the upward arms are fastened by a single bolt with nut or clamp lever.
 5. The hammock of claim 4 wherein the support legs are fastened to the horizontal members at each end by a single attachment and clamping means.
 6. The hammock of claim 5 wherein unfolding or folding is easily achieved by manual release and tightening of fasteners, rotating legs by 90 degrees and upward arms by around 150 degrees.
 7. The hammock of claim 2 wherein one attachment mean is a tensioning device with optional length adjustment in order to provide easy hanging of a hammock.
 8. The hammock of claim 7 wherein the tensioning device is a basic overcenter device.
 9. The hammock of claim 2 wherein the support members are mostly straight beams made out of wood.
 10. The hammock of claim 2 wherein the opening angle formed by the horizontal member to the upward arm is around 150 degrees.
 11. The hammock stand of claim 10 wherein at least one wheel is fastened to the horizontal support members by an attachment device permitting transportation.
 12. The hammock of claim 10 wherein the X tensioned hammock side entry is less than 36 inches.
 13. The hammock of claim 12 wherein a slightly tensioned anti-flip mean provides extra stability when climbing in or out.
 14. An overcenter assembly comprising: a) an outer shell is operatively fastened to a hammock stand upper arm end; b) an inner mechanical lever arm is operatively fastened to the outer shell by two fasteners; c) an inner tensioning member being fastened at one end of the inner lever arm in such position to permit overcenter position upon lever closure whereby the other end of the tensioning member allows tensioning of a hammock.
 15. The overcenter assembly of claim 14 wherein the outer shell of the overcenter device is part and built into the upward support arm of a hammock stand.
 16. A hammock comprising: a) a near rectangular sheet of material; b) two large bands of material diagonally located lengthwise; c) the fabric bed being fastened to two spreader bars whereby the hammock is supported by ropes of similar supporting means.
 17. The hammock of claim 16 wherein the diagonal band of fabric makes a wide X pattern fastened to spreader bars with at least one being curved and connected to the hammock rings by a set of two ropes fastened around the middle of each diagonal band end.
 18. The hammock of claim 17 wherein the spreader bars are removable by releasing two anchoring devices.
 19. The hammock of claim 16 wherein the diagonally located large band of fabric forms an X only over two thirds of the length of the hammock only to fold near the lateral edges of the hammock and reaches the foot end of the hammock at the curved spreader bar; a large band of fabric is located crosswise of the hammock at the end of the X portion to support the upper parts of the users legs.
 20. A compact hammock stand assembly comprising: a) a wide central board fastened to a leg member at one end, a hammock support member at the other end with a transverse fastening plate near its center; b) a set of two outer narrower boards located at each side of the central board with fastening to a single foot member at one end another single wide support hammock member at the other end; c) on each board the transverse fastener plates are fastened to an axle linking them into a single assembly providing unfolding and folding capability.
 21. A compact hammock stand assembly of claim 20 wherein the hammock tensioning is provided by strap or rope devices.
 22. A compact hammock stand assembly of claim 20 wherein the hammock tensioning is provided by mechanical control devices.
 23. A compact hammock stand assembly of claim 20 wherein a seat support sub-assembly is supported operatively by the reaction member and the three boards whereby transforming the compact hammock stand into a multiple seat bench. 